Johnson: Tears flow as rescuer, rescued reunite

Angela Basore and Harlan Lambert are interviewed by the media moments after reuniting in Fullerton. Forty-three years ago, police officer Harlan Lambert pulled 4-year-old Angela Basore, her 2-year-old sister, and 6-week-old brother from their burning home in Santa Ana.DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

"My name is Angela Basore, and I hope I have found the right person! My mother died in a fire in 1970, and you (or someone named Harlan Lambert) was the police officer who fought to save my 6-week-old brother, my 3-year-old sister and myself. I have been looking for you for several years. I now live in San Diego, and would love to meet you if you are the person I am looking for. I just want you to know what a beautiful thing you did."

Harlan Lambert is seated at a front table of an Anaheim restaurant on Friday morning as he re-reads the email. He chokes up. With him are his wife, Sharron, and Curtis "Jake" Jakobson, a former fellow Santa Ana Police Department officer and now best friend, who was with him on that awful early morning.

"I tend to cry a lot," Lambert finally says, almost sheepishly.

Once you know the story, you can see why any crying is perfectly understandable.

"The important thing, for me," he said, "was being able to save those kids' lives."

Jake Jakobson immediately picks up the telling of the story.

It was May 26, 1970, and they were the new kids on the department, he says, both of them working the graveyard shift. They were about to knock off that morning – the sun just barely beginning to rise.

"I'm going down Main Street when I hear this call of a house fire nearby," Jakobson, now 68, remembers. "I could see the smoke rising, and when I get there, I see Lamb(ert) jump out of his car and race to the back of the house.

"I'm telling you, it was like a blast furnace, that house. The front of it was totally engulfed. I run around back, and see Lamb bust out a window and start climbing in. I'm thinking, 'What is he doing?' I'm afraid for his safety. He tells me, 'Stay here. I'll see if somebody's in there.' There is so much heat and smoke, I could hardly breathe.

"He's crawling on the floor, down a hallway, and disappears. I'm calling after him, 'Lamb! Lamb!' Soon, he comes back with this little girl, and hands her off to me.

"And then he goes back in. He says, 'Someone else is inside there.' I'm telling you, it's like from a movie! There are flames lapping out of the windows, parts of the ceiling are falling in, the tar from the roof has melted and is dripping on me. I'm thinking, I've got to go in to save him, but I know if I do, we'll both be dead.

"All of a sudden he comes back with another girl. He collapses. I grab him. He pulls away, and tries to go back inside."

"He pulled me out!" Lambert interjects, his eyes wide.

"By his police belt," Jakobson continues. "My jacket is melting and catching fire from the roof tar. I was not letting him go back in. What I witnessed that day was heroism at its height."

The two officers stumbled away from the house, and fell to their knees on the driveway. The Fire Department had arrived. Suddenly, a neighbor appeared.

"Where's the baby?" she shouted.

"Lamb is on his knees, gasping, when he jumps up like he's going back in," Jakobson continues. "I kind of push him back down, tell him the fire guys are here, that they've got all the equipment and the gear."

They watched as a firefighter kicked open the back door. Seconds later, a window crashed open, and the firefighter thrust a bassinet into Jakobson's arms.

"The baby looked like he's dead," he remembers. "He is so warm and covered with soot. I kneel down with it, remember my CPR, take my two fingers and push on its chest while I clear his mouth. He starts crying."

Susan Clune, 30, had fallen asleep on the sofa with a cigarette in her hand inside the home in the 2200 block of South Evergreen Street, investigators later learned. Her daughters, Angela, 4, and Wendy, 3, were saved from the fire by Harlan Lambert. Firefighters rescued Douglas Jr., 6 weeks old.

Neither Lambert nor Jakobson ever learned from that day forward what had become of the three children.

Angela Basore and Harlan Lambert are interviewed by the media moments after reuniting in Fullerton. Forty-three years ago, police officer Harlan Lambert pulled 4-year-old Angela Basore, her 2-year-old sister, and 6-week-old brother from their burning home in Santa Ana. DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER
Forty-three years after she was rescued from her burning home, Angela Basore reunites with Harlan Lambert, the police officer who saved her life. DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER
Angela Basore kisses the cheek of Harlan Lambert as they were reunited Saturday in Fullerton 43 years after he rescued her and her two siblings from a burning home. DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER
Angela Basore and Harlan Lambert are interviewed by the media moments after reuniting in Fullerton. Basore, left, was 4 years old when her family's Santa Ana home caught on fire. She was rescued, along with her two siblings by then police officer Lambert, right. Basore and Lambert were reunited Saturday in Fullerton for the first time in 43 years. DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER
Angela Basore is emotional after reuniting Saturday with Harlan Lambert, the police officer who saved her life 43 years ago. DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER
Retired police officers Jake Jakobson and Harlan Lambert reunite with Angela Basore 43 years after they rescued her from a house fire in Santa Ana. The reunion took place Saturday in Fullerton. DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER
Angela Basore, left, was 4 years old when her family's Santa Ana home caught on fire. She was rescued, along with her two siblings by then police officer Harlan Lambert, right. Basore and Lambert were reunited Saturday in Fullerton for the first time in 43 years. DREW A. KELLEY, FOR THE REGISTER

1 of

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.